Jujubes
The downside to the Jujube’s are that they are very thorny. In some varieties thorns seemed to decrease as the tree ages. Most of the rootstock send up numerous suckers so you could have a thorny thicket in a couple of years if you let them go. The fruit does not keep well after harvesting, about three weeks in the refrigerator is the maximum that I have been able to keep the fruit edible. The bette tasting varieties are hard to find and expensive to buy. The couple of upside points to be considered is that they sucker a lot. Meyer in California digs up the suckers, tapes a graft on the top and sells them for $30 a tree for the two foot high ones plus shipping and handling. This was the price four years ago. I bought graft wood from him for 2 dollars a stick and did my own grafting. The trees can also be considered ornamental for landscaping, especially the So. The branches are twisted and gnarled and it is especially showy when it loses its leaves.
1. So – Ping-pong ball size fruit, excellent flavor, sweet, dark red-brown, attractive tree even without leaves.
2. Sugar Cane – Ping-pong ball size fruit, sweet flavor, dark red-brown color when ripe, thorny tree.
3. Sherwood – Large thumb size fruit, barrel shaped, good flavor, erect growing tree, poor production.
4. Lang – Largest of the fruit, will spoil before it turns the desired dark color in the Gulf Coast climate, so picked slightly green. Makes excellent dried fruit, Jujube butter, and will substitute for apples in a pie; extremely productive.
5. Silver Hill – Same quality and properties as Lang above, may be the same tree.
6. Tiger Tooth – Fruit shaped like a large canine tooth, good fruit, ripens late.
7. Tsao – (the Oriental word for jujube) 1½ inches long and ½ inch diameter, good flavor ripens to dark color, moderate production.
8. Sweet Meaty – Extremely vigorous, thorny, productive, large marble size, sweet tart fruit, similar to if not the same fruit grown in India.
9. Ga-866 – Supposed to be very sweet 43 percent sucrose, didn’t seem that sweet to me, two trees have produced a dozen or so fruit in six years.
10. GI 7-62 – Shaped like small flattened pumpkin, 1½ inches in diameter and one inch high, excellent flavor, sweet, juicy, crisp, and very productive, one of the favorites at the taste tasting.
11. GI 1183 – Barrel shaped, moderately productive, mediocre taste.
12. Shu Min – Barrel shaped fruit a little larger than Sherwood, has slight pear flavor, fair production.
13. Li – 1½ inches long and one inch diameter, too young to evaluate, taste seems to be above average.
14. Yu – Eight year-old graft; no fruit.
15. Ant Admire – First fruit last year, good taste, and not enough fruit or time to evaluate properly.
16. Si Hong – Same as No. 15
17. Sept. Late – Same as No. 15
18. Globe – Same as No. 15
19. Honey Jar
20. Burmese, Salay Zee-Thee – Evergreen seedling, blooms in the fall, sets fruit in the winter and will lose fruit due to frost.I have six Russian varieties that have not fruited yet. They are not growing out very fast. It will probably be several years before they do produce fruit.
1. So – Ping-pong ball size fruit, excellent flavor, sweet, dark red-brown, attractive tree even without leaves.
2. Sugar Cane – Ping-pong ball size fruit, sweet flavor, dark red-brown color when ripe, thorny tree.
3. Sherwood – Large thumb size fruit, barrel shaped, good flavor, erect growing tree, poor production.
4. Lang – Largest of the fruit, will spoil before it turns the desired dark color in the Gulf Coast climate, so picked slightly green. Makes excellent dried fruit, Jujube butter, and will substitute for apples in a pie; extremely productive.
5. Silver Hill – Same quality and properties as Lang above, may be the same tree.
6. Tiger Tooth – Fruit shaped like a large canine tooth, good fruit, ripens late.
7. Tsao – (the Oriental word for jujube) 1½ inches long and ½ inch diameter, good flavor ripens to dark color, moderate production.
8. Sweet Meaty – Extremely vigorous, thorny, productive, large marble size, sweet tart fruit, similar to if not the same fruit grown in India.
9. Ga-866 – Supposed to be very sweet 43 percent sucrose, didn’t seem that sweet to me, two trees have produced a dozen or so fruit in six years.
10. GI 7-62 – Shaped like small flattened pumpkin, 1½ inches in diameter and one inch high, excellent flavor, sweet, juicy, crisp, and very productive, one of the favorites at the taste tasting.
11. GI 1183 – Barrel shaped, moderately productive, mediocre taste.
12. Shu Min – Barrel shaped fruit a little larger than Sherwood, has slight pear flavor, fair production.
13. Li – 1½ inches long and one inch diameter, too young to evaluate, taste seems to be above average.
14. Yu – Eight year-old graft; no fruit.
15. Ant Admire – First fruit last year, good taste, and not enough fruit or time to evaluate properly.
16. Si Hong – Same as No. 15
17. Sept. Late – Same as No. 15
18. Globe – Same as No. 15
19. Honey Jar
20. Burmese, Salay Zee-Thee – Evergreen seedling, blooms in the fall, sets fruit in the winter and will lose fruit due to frost.I have six Russian varieties that have not fruited yet. They are not growing out very fast. It will probably be several years before they do produce fruit.